Owning your own business is difficult enough without having to worry about finding the perfect balance of marketing strategies. Stick solely to traditional marketing strategies and you’ll find yourself potentially missing an enormous demographic.

Try to milk the internet for all it’s worth and you’ll find yourself completely overwhelmed by the number of tools and application readily available for internet marketing. But what if you used social media sites as a happy medium between traditional and hard-core Internet marketing strategies? Using this one tool might make a huge difference in your business without mind-boggling you altogether.

Here are 5 ways to get started using social media in your marketing strategy.

1. Create a Strategy. Your competitors have already created a strategy for using social media, so odds are you’re already behind. This means thinking intentionally about utilizing social media instead of randomly opening an account here and joining a group there. Spend some time identifying the kinds of sites available and evaluating what role they could have in your marketing strategy. And then make a plan to use them regularly and effectively. If you just “go with the flow” you will be wasting your time and effort.

2. Brand Building. Social media marketing is like having one enormous announcement advertising your company. Everything you post, every tweet you write, and every comment you make should be treated as a chance to show your audience what your business is about, what you value, and what you stand for.

The first step to think about is creating a business blog. Chances are you have employees who are already associated in social media in one way or another, so request that they post some articles to the blog. Be sure your blog includes your logo, a picture of yourself, and any other tools that will help you market your brand. Use your company’s colors as background on your blog and as wallpaper on your Twitter profile.

3. Choose Wisely. Don’t feel like you need to use every single social media site available. Stay with several and spend time using them to your benefit. Choose sites that help you connect with your target demographic. This will help you showcase the components of your business that interest potential customers and that will be most helpful in connecting potential customers to your business.

4. Find the Correct Balance. Social media is really popular that it might initially be difficult to find the right balance between it and traditional marketing strategies. In the end, they need to all work together to serve your business effectively. Start with LinkedIn and create a business profile where you can post testimonials and make connections with your customers. Then create a Facebook group associated with your industry or product.

Finally, use Twitter to generate a village of people with curiosity about your industry. Connect traditional strategies with online strategies by printing your Twitter ID on business card and create a place on your website that shows visitors where they can connect with you using social media.

5. Mobility. Many platforms allow you to communicate instantly by downloading applications to your phone. Imagine what you could do as a business owner attending a conference. Sharing with your readers what you are learning, as you learn it, is a great way to build connection with and interest in your customers. Overwhelming or not, young people are exchanging information and making decisions based on social media sites.

If you’re interested in connecting with them as they age, obtain more discretionary income, and spend money on things that interest them, then you need to find a way to interact with them now. And you need to ensure you’re labeling your business online rather than waiting for others to define you in your stead. Get connected online and let the world know who you are.